My favorite astrologer Stephen Arroyo uses the term “double whammy” for when you see a repeating pattern in astrology that further accentuates certain energy. That is what is going on this week – we are getting a pretty intense double whammy as we are coming off of our full moon in Scorpio (ruled, of course, by Pluto) that peaked late Monday night and then Pluto stationed retrograde yesterday evening.
There is a mystery to Plutonian energy – is it a planet? is it something else? it certainly doesn’t share an orbit with any other planets in our solar system and has a “moon” that it moves with which is almost as large as it is itself. The conflict over Pluto and its status in our solar system is a great analogy for its energy signature. Pluto is still a little bit beyond categorization – it is somehow, beyond us. And yet, we are touched by it.
The outer three planets are a little beyond human comprehension – they act upon us and we just need to “deal with it”. They remind us that despite our free will there is “something” beyond us – whether you want to call it God, or fate, or science.
It is worth noting that Pluto was part of the major stellium of planets in Capricorn that plagued the world (too soon?) through most of last year. Though all of the other planets have moved on, Pluto remains in Capricorn and will for the next couple of years. Because Pluto at most affects our subconscious, it is deeply rooted within our shadows – after the Traumatic Event has passed, you still need to work your way through the trauma. Pluto is the voice in the back of your head that tells you that you cannot go back – that back doesn’t exist anymore.
Most times, Plutonian energy is so “behind the scenes” that you don’t even feel it unless it is making a strong aspect to something in your personal charts – this is not one of those times.
It makes sense – there is a lot of work that needs doing. Many things have fallen apart – as Pluto retrogrades, we will be called to re-examine the pieces. Do they fit back together to make something new? What needs to be discarded? What should be kept? Pluto calls for doing this work for a deep soul-place: there are no easy answers.
The energy is going to be felt all through next week (at the least – longer for some if your chart is activated or you have big stuff to move in your personal life) and it is supported by the Sun-Uranus conjunction that is already present going exact on Friday. Things fall apart when they don’t work anymore. How do you handle it when things fall apart? Is it your instinct to tear it all down and start anew, or to fix things? Somewhere in between? You may be asked to reexamine those instincts during this time, maybe even pivot to a new way of being/experiencing change. If this happens, know that you are right on time.
After the year that we’ve had, nobody wants to have to do any more hard work or heavy lifting – I get it (so, so much). Both Pluto and Uranus are reminders that we don’t get to choose the “best time” to do the work – perhaps even because often we are unwilling to go into the shadow-cave on our own.
There is no anecdote to this energy but you can make it easier on yourself. Really embrace going with the flow this week will help – recognize that when things come up during these intense moments, it is a sign that something needs clearance. This is a week to do what needs doing when it comes up – veer away from strict timelines and rigid to-do lists. It is a week to pause and reflect rather than react. To lay witness to what comes out without going into judgment.
Stay away from your soapbox – let’s all admit that everybody knows what they should be doing by now and no amount of grandstanding is going to change anybody’s minds. Stay in your lane and out of the shark’s house because the masses will be biting this week. Expect to find people stuck in a state of reaction – it’s a good week for daily reminders that how other people react to you is as much about how they feel about themselves as it will ever be about you.
Mostly, it’s just a week to be the observer of your own shit. What rises to the surface this week is in need to further exploration – if you’re too “in it” right now, write it down to return to it later. Look for the own “double whammies” in your life – repeated patterns are a sign of something important that needs addressing. Pluto comes to us through a haze of intuition – if something stinks, there’s a reason (unless you think everything stinks, and then it may be you – no judgment here, we all stink sometimes…).
Like all retrograde cycles, Pluto retrograde is a reminder that sometimes we have to move back over past territory before we can blaze forward on a new path. Pluto will be joined soon by Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury – remember not to lie to yourself as you reevaluate. If something needs to go, it needs to go. Do yourself the kindness of getting over your own shit.
We are less than a month out now from our Sun’s approach to the North Node (aka our eclipse point), so things are going to increasingly feel a bit “fated” from now through the entirety of June. I hate using the term “fate” because it is so maligned culturally and misunderstood. People equate it to nonsense like “soul mates” – whereas it’s a concept better suited to the idea that you are forced to face the things that you need to personally overcome over and over throughout your life until you learn and integrate those lessons.
If those lessons come back around again, know that you always have the power to transmute the experience by truly looking at it and growing from it rather than passively experiencing it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve fallen in that hole if this time you see the hole coming and avoid it.